India, March 25 -- Harish Rana was 18 when a fall left him with catastrophic brain injuries. For 13 years, he lay in a vegetative state, his body sustained solely through artificial support while his mind was gone. Acting on a plea by his parents, the Supreme Court on March 11 applied India's passive euthanasia guidelines for the first time to allow withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment, observing that "When the degree of bodily invasion progressively increases, and the prognosis for recovery progressively decreases, there arises a certain point when the State's absolute interest in preserving life must become subservient to the dignity of the individual..." Rana died on Tuesday.

Rana's case is the latest chapter in a long and uneven l...